Leonard
by Neferit
Summary: His life was good - what could get wrong? And when it went wrong, how could it go better? Third part of "Names in Time" series.
1. What Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong

**A/N:** This is the third and (in all probability) final part of my Names in Time series (although I'm seriously considering writing other names as well - just not completely sure about it right now). It actually took me the longest time to polish it into something what I could be at least a little content with. **This story is complete** - but just like when I was posting "Jim", I enjoy getting pageviews, reviews and leave you all hanging witha cliffhanger before I update. I know, I'm terrible. So, buckle up and enjoy the ride!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, Bones and Jim are property of Paramount and part of this fanfic had been insired by a ST XI kink meme prompt (you will be notified, don't worry). BBut if you have any free Pikes or Spock Primes, feel free to send them over!

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**1. What Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong  
**

He used to think that his life was actually quite good. His family loved him; he was able to study what interested him the most and became a doctor, just like his father. And he was good doctor, one of the best in the whole state. He married pretty woman which he loved and they had lovely little girl together. What could possibly go wrong?

It showed that actually many things could go wrong.

First to happen was his father getting ill. He was withering in front of him, the once strong man becoming weaker by each second. "I'll find the cure, Dad, don't worry," he promised him, when he was sitting on the chair next to the bed which held his father. The old man just smiled and nodded. "I know, Leonard, I know."

Little did both of them know that this was the time when all started to come closer to disaster.

As David McCoy waited for his son to find the cure, as long as he could, he did his best to keep his suffering hidden as much as he was able. But in the end, the pain showed to be too much for him to bear any longer. "Leonard, please… end it."

Four words.

Four simple words and they changed his life completely. In the end, he eased his father into oblivion he wanted so much. The next week, he found the cure. As a celebration, he drank himself into stupor and as a further punishment he refused to take his own detox hypo, nursing mother of all hangovers through the next day.

During his father illness, Jocelyn was trying to be supportive. She was a nurse, so she knew how Leonard felt about it, knew how her father-in-law was feeling. As the time passed, her support was fading away, leaving only bitter reproach in its place. She didn't understand why it was so important for him to find the cure. She was drawing apart from him, leaving little Joanna with his mother for days at times, returning without any explanation for her absence. When his father died, and he was finally fully aware of what is happening, it was already too late.

Few weeks after discovering the cure, Jocelyn served him divorce papers. In the shock he was in he didn't really listened o what his mother and the rest of his family were telling him and lost in the court. Almost all his belongings were won by Jocelyn. He wouldn't mind the things – house, all his equipment and stuff he could get again. But she marked him an irresponsible alcoholic and he lost custody of their little girl. He lost almost every single right he had to his daughter. Add to this, Jocelyn and her 'daddy', as she always called him, made him such an infamous figure that for the few weeks he tried to find a job as a doctor in any of the hospitals in the South, no one even bothered to look into his papers. What they heard seemed enough for them. Ten "we're sorry but the position we were offering is already taken, thank you for your interest" later, he was ready to throw the towel in.

That was when he found a Starfleet recruiting poster. The letters on it were mocking him with their bright colours, with its _'Starfleet needs YOU!'_ Before he ripped it from the wall, his drunken mind noticed the _'looking for specialists in medical area'_ part of the whole poster. Medics. They were looking for fucking medics. Buying himself a bottle of bourbon, he wrote down the address to nearest recruiting area down. Riverside, Iowa. He could be there in few days. Very next day, equipped with several bottles of bourbon, he set off.

When he was sitting in front of the recruiter, the famous Captain Christopher Pike, four days later, he was very much aware that his looks were not marking him as the best option for a Starfleet medic. Pike himself told him so, after strict talking down and _'I hope that this drinking of yours is only temporary problem'_ speech.

And so he spilt what made him like that, showing off his personality for a bit. Pike's face darkened for a second, before it became neutral again. He let him speak, and after looking into his papers, he said: "Well, doctor, what is South's lost is our gain. Let me welcome you to the Starfleet."

He was thinking that everything is going to be damn fine, before Pike said: "Oh, I almost forgot. The shuttle leaves tomorrow at eight hundred. Do not be late, or we may leave without you."

No. God almighty let him hear wrong… Alas, as he made sure tomorrow, the cadets who came to take a look at the ship built in Riverside shipyards were really leaving with a shuttle and seemed damn happy about it, chattering all the way, giving him funny looks when they noticed him standing there.

Shuttles. Travelling in space.

He was very much doomed.


	2. When Loosers Meet Winners

**A/N:** Second chapter of Leonard. Bonesy, Bonesy - one gotta love you.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, Bones and Jim are property of Paramount and part of this fanfic had been insired by a ST XI kink meme prompt (you will be notified, don't worry). But if you have any free Pikes or Spock Primes, feel free to send them over!

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**1. When Loosers Meet Winners**

He seriously hoped his absence in one of the seats will go unnoticed. After all, with so many cadets, it will surely be easy to miss one guy in civilian clothing who wasn't supposed be there before. It was slightly after eight when he got dragged from the restroom where he locked himself in, so he wouldn't see outside. No one seemed to bother that aviaphobia is aviaphobia and it won't let you go just because you got yourself recruited into Starfleet. And no, he really didn't need doctor – he was a doctor himself, damit, thank you very much!

After he was pushed in one of the seats and almost forcibly strapped in, he heard quiet: "You alright, man?"

Without looking anywhere he just blurted "I may throw up on you."

Soft chuckle, followed by pained hiss was his only answer. Turning around after the sound, he saw a young man with several bruises, black eye and split lip, making Leonard's doctor side to surface. He seemed to be favouring his right side, gritting his teeth slightly as he turned to face him. He also had the bluest eyes he has ever seen, but in his rant about space being darkness filled with diseases and falling space shuttles he preferred not to really notice. Not only was he at the worst possible place right now, oh no. Add to that, his wife just got whole planet from him in divorce, leaving him just his bones.

When the kid heard that, he just gave him a small smile and held his hand to him. "Jim Kirk. And you are?"

The whole trip became much more bearable with the kid next to him. Jim talked to him about everything and nothing at the same time, keeping his attention kept on himself, not leaving him a moment to ponder that around the shuttle, it's the disease filled dark space, forcing him to keep looking at him with the way he talked and gesticulated. When they were leaving the shuttle to take care of the late recruitment related things (lots of stuff about entrance exams, physical and the rest of joys about being late to sign up), he wondered if he'll see the kid again. It still came as a bit of surprise to find out whom he got as a roommate.

"Hey there, Bones! Fancy seeing ya again!"

And he just knew he was doomed. He might have grumbled about having Leonard as his name and stuff that stupid moniker where sun does not shine, you idiot, but ever since then, he always heard Jim talking about him calling him Bones. And when no one else could hear it, Bones became _Bonesy_.

Soon after their fashionably late join-the-Starfleet Jim got to be rather infamous for being cheeky and arrogant, uncaring for anyone amongst the other cadets. That didn't sit well with Leonard; unlike all those gossipers he heard Jim talking to his only interested family member, someone of name Frank, and heard the worry and insecurity in the voice of his roommate. He knew better than those campus idiots.

They liked to call his friend – yes, damit, _friend_ – a manwhore who spends most of his time by chasing skirts, sleeping his way around the campus, drinking and fighting. He knew for sure that his roommate _may_ have spent some of the nights away – but he also spent one hell of a time in library or back in their room, helping him, Leonard, to revise for tests in subjects which were a bit over his head, sacrificing his free time and sleep for his benefit, patiently going over the difficult passages over and over, until it finally clicked together in Leonard's brain.

It was the kid who made him to call Jocelyn and ask to talk to Joanna, and to keep trying, if his ex says no. He commed his ex mostly to get Jim off his back with that (he made Jim swear that if it explodes in their faces, he will leave him the hell alone about the issue). To his surprise, he was allowed to speak to Joanna for almost an hour.

Twice a week.

That was after he had to run off for taking a glass of water and when he returned, he found Jim sitting in front of the terminal, using all of his flashy-boy charm on his ex-wife - and surprisingly, it worked, earning him the extra time with his daughter. Seriously, who would have thought that James T. Kirk will get Jocelyn I-will-get-the-planet-in-divorce Treadway to eat from his palm like that?

Jim even charmed himself into his ex-wife's good graces well enough to be allowed to take his Joanna for a visit to the Academy. He had to swear several kinds of oaths, put his credit chip as a pledge that Joanna will return safely – he even asked Pike to speak on his behalf with ex-Mrs McCoy, so he could give Leonard the biggest birthday surprise of his life (not that he learnt about it at the time. But that didn't matter. As much as he never cared much about celebrating the day he was born, this certainly was worth a celebration).

He knew that his fellow medics call him "that grumpy bastard" behind his back. It wasn't as if he cared too much. Others were welcomed to think whatever they wanted – as long as he got his work done and patient saved, he couldn't care less. He would rather be called successful grumpy bastard than unsuccessful miss sunshine (yes, every time he heard "that grumpy bastard got it right" whispered behind his back, he was so tempted to make one of the Jim-like gestures – point his finger at the speaker and sing-song "loosers will loose!"). His patients also recognized this in him, and although they sometimes complained about his supposedly non-existent bedside manner (well, it did exist - but when most of the injuries he treated were caused by carelessness, he was a bit of a grumpy bastard, alright), they still asked for him, if it really mattered.

Jim was one his regular patients. That kid had been allergic to more things he ever thought possible, and before the medics in Starfleet Medical finally realized that, Jim ended there with anaphylactic shock to something (be it food or some poorly thought-through vaccine) way too many times to his liking. So they agreed on listing him as his primary physician (as well as one of his emergency contacts), which probably saved Jim's life more than once.

The kid definitely grew up on him during the years spend at Academy. He saw how he was able to get himself drunk senseless and beaten in a pulp for no obvious reason. He saw Jim being all arrogant and cocky to the faces of those he didn't like (like the guy whom he tended to call 'Cupcake' for some reason). He had been there when one young girl had been beaten around by someone who obviously fancied being her boyfriend (the girl obviously didn't dare to tell him otherwise). Jim very quickly showed him that women are not to be treated that way – and then even accompanied the girl home, to make sure nothing happened to her. Yeah, Jim Kirk could be a knight in shining armour, when he chose to.

And the guy also didn't believe in no-win scenarios. He even managed to pass a bit of that belief on him. He didn't manage to find the cure in time to safe his father? He still managed to find it soon enough that countless other families won't suffer through the same fate. His wife divorced him, getting the whole planet in divorce. Oh, c'mon, it wasn't that bad, the kid told him.

"Believe me, Bones, that she divorced you just shows she's a bit poor in spirit. _'Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth,'_" he quoted. Leonard winced, the quote didn't quite suit the situation, but Jim was saying more: "She may easily get the whole planet – but man, you've got the space. And me, of course. So you see – a win-win situation," he finished with grin, making Leonard roll his eyes. And, of course, the fact that he hadn't seen Joanna for several months, before Jim's dare and wasn't able to hug his little girl until Jim dared himself into Jocelyn's house and sight.

Everything was possible, if you were willing to play by "all or nothing" rules when it was needed.


	3. No Such Thing As a No Win

**A/N:** I know, I said this was finished already. And it was, even back then when I started posting this all that time ago. Yeah, I'm terrible, and while I finished this on my Archive of Our Own profile, I kind of forgot to update it here as well. I know, I'm so ashamed of myself.

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**No Such Thing As a No Win**

At least Leonard thought so. That was until Jim's first try at Kobayashi Maru simulation. The fact that Jim was able to hold his own for longer than anyone else before (even if half of his crew was pretty unwilling to work with him, see the girl at communication console) was just not good enough for the kid. Few months later Jim took the simulation again. He pulled them through for even longer than before – only to have the whole ship destroyed, when he ordered evacuation of the ship.

"You did well, kid," he said quietly to Jim, when they were sitting in their room. The daylight was already chased away by darkness of the night, when they got out of the simulator.

"No, Bones," said Jim, turning to face him. "Not good enough." He started to pace around the room. "You know," he added conversationally, "the test is just a big cheat. I mean, you can't be tested about something when you can't best it."

"Jim," protested Leonard, "that's what the test is about. It can't be beaten."

"It can," said Jim, resolution shining in the blue depths of his eyes, "and it will."

He didn't see much of Jim for the next few weeks, the kid always staying in the library as long as he could, returning to their room only to grab a few hours of sleep and disappearing in the morning once more. If it wouldn't be for that incident when Jim marched into their room, clad only in his underwear, the rest of his clothing packed into a bundle in his arms, he wouldn't even realize Jim was preparing something.

"Just you wait, Bones," he answered his question about 'what the hell did you do this time, Jim?!' with a grin. "Just you wait for a few days, and you'll see it for yourself."

And he did. They were in the simulator again, the consoles flicking into darkness… only to blink into life again with the same startling light. "Load the torpedoes! Fire at my command… now!"

The enemy ships were destroyed. The simulation ended. When Jim turned around and flashed him his patented cocky smile, he knew that the kid was in trouble. And big trouble this time. The Academy hearing which proved him right took place the next day in the morning. Jim had been pale, when he was called forward – but otherwise, he was as resolute as always.

"I believe I have the right to face my accuser."

It wasn't that Leonard was xenophobe or anything like that. He liked other races just fine. Vulcans did not like to be touched; Andorians were pretty protective of their antennas… The list could continue. But this man, this Vulcan, he despised on the very first sight. People were generally nervous when Vulcans were around; their presumed coldness and the feel of supremacy which radiated from them in waves did that to most of the humans. This one was radiating the same feel as much as at least four Vulcans would.

"Captain cannot cheat death. You, James Tiberius Kirk, should know this better than anyone else."

That green-blooded, pointy-eared son of a bitch. He was so going to stab him with hypos into the next century, once he will have the chance. To pull this card… kicking Jim in the balls would be less painful. Even the admirals sitting there looked at Spock incredulously. Pike certainly looked as a little kid who had been told not to play with his food and finish that spinach, please, darling.

It remained unknown what more would have been tossed between the accuser and accused, because that was when there is a yeoman running to the admirals, waving a PAD around excitedly. Vulcan is facing geological catastrophe and in desperate need of help. Well, as desperate as Vulcans could ever get. Everyone was to report on his or her ship and prepare for launch.

Each class had someone to report to, so they knew to which spaceship they were assigned to. But while Leonard's name had been said in the list of those who were assigned to _Enterprise_, Jim only found out that due to him being on academic suspension, he was taken out of the assignment lists. The kid looked so lost at the moment that he just looked around quickly and jabbed him with a hypo.

"Fuck, Bones! What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Mud-flea vaccine. It will make you look ill, so as your primary physician I have to take you with me on the ship."

It didn't seem to be such a good idea, when Jim got allergic reaction to something in the vaccine, his hands swelling dangerously. Before he could do anything about that, though, another of the miracle working children on _Enterprise_ started speaking to the whole ship over the comm, telling them what exactly is going on. Before only slightly agitated Jim now jumped to his feet, running from sickbay in search of Uhura, Leonard chasing after him with a hypo which should counter the allergic reaction, returning Jim's hands to normal and help him breathe more easily. He didn't manage to do that until Jim finally located Uhura and then he finally stabbed him with hypo. Well, he may have used more force than necessary but no one could really blame him for that.

The kid then dragged them both to the bridge – only to find himself facing his accuser again, together with rather surprised looking Captain Pike. After some frantic shouting Jim finally told Pike everything he realized when he was listening to Chekov's report. Uhura added the necessary ring of truth to his words, when she confirmed the Klingon transmission about their fleet destroyed just few days ago. That was when the ship jumped from warp and field of destruction unfolded before their eyes. It was not long before they were attacked by a ship which was way too advanced for this age; their communication jammed, just like their transporters.

Leonard was unsure what the hell was happening on the bridge, once the ship was hit. He had been running to the sickbay, where already the wounded started to show up.

"Where is Puri?" he shouted at one of the nurses. Speaking in his normal voice would leave his question unheard, but part of him winced at the tone of his voice.

The woman looked to be nursing a serious case of shock, as she looked up to him. She just pointed to her right: "He was there, when the ship was hit."

He looked the way she pointed to. That piece of ship had been missing. Meaning Puri was dead. And that meant that he just became the Chief Medical Officer. Not wanting to waste any more of the precious time they had, he sent another doctor to do the triage, Chapel to prepare surgery, other to gather supplies. They were in the middle of at least stabilising of those who will need their turn in surgery, when the comm beeped.

"Sickbay," he snapped into the communicator.

There had been short silence on the other side of the comm. "Doctor McCoy?" sounded Spock's voice. "What happened to doctor Puri?"

"The part of the ship he was in is currently missing. Does that answer your question?" It obviously did, since Spock said: "Then you are the new CMO," which led to Leonard snorting: "Tell me something I don't know," before he ended the connection.

The biggest rush was already ending, when he was called to the Bridge. The ship's gossip mill was working wonders even in crisis, as he learnt on the way that Spock's mother had been lost during transport from Vulcan, before the whole planet collapsed. All of that had been too much to wrap his mind around, so he mostly focused on small things. Get to the bridge. Listen to what they want you to hear. Say something. Return to sickbay. It was just some sick luck that Jim, who was not even supposed to be on the ship, got himself marooned on Delta Vega for trying to mutiny. And he was torn between supporting his friend and taking care of the patients in medbay. And as a doctor he had to choose his patients. He only hoped that Jim will forgive him. It still made him twitchy, he thought of Jim alone on some frozen ball, so when Spock took it to himself to thank him for siding him against Jim, he just snapped.

"Damn that pointy-eared, green-blooded hobgoblin," he grumbled, as he rushed back to sickbay. He heard something about plotting course towards Laurentian system. 'Jim thought it wrong, to go there…' he thought as he was sewing someone's hand together. Luckily, all the critical patients were stabilized – or in the worse case dead, which made him angry. But at the same time, he remembered what his father told him.

"You know, Leonard, you can never be quick enough, brilliant enough, to save absolutely everyone. But never let that stop you from trying your best."

That was when he was called to bridge again. And there… Jim, somehow worse to wear but alive was there, together with some completely strange man. Acting Captain Spock was obviously demanding some answers – while Jim was being Jim at his worst (or best, that depended n your point of view). Cocky, arrogant, no manners and bluntness sticking from him as spines sticking from a hedgehog. He kept on needling Spock, the whole bridge watching the whole scene with fascination usually reserved only for watching car crash.

Jim had been watching Spock intently with each word he said, with each step he made into the Vulcan's personal space. Only once his eyes flicked away, for a microsecond, to seek out him – the deepest blue with stars in them. When they returned to their target, Jim's lips twisted into ugly grin. "But you do not care, do you? You never even loved her!"

In that moment the tension on the bridge finally snapped – the sudden silence broken by inhumane roar. Jim was thrown around few bits, while all of them jumped to their feet, shocked cries escaping them. Apart from several pained whizzes Jim made when Spock's fists connected with his torso or when he got punched in the face he was completely silent, staring directly into Spock's face, as the Vulcan was strangling him over the helm console. Right in the moment when Leonard's hand slipped to his belt, towards the sedative hypo, the other Vulcan, Spock's father Sarek, finally spoke:

"Spock."

That one word conveyed so many meaning to Spock that he released Jim's neck and dazedly stepped aside. And he renounced his captainship, too. Leonard obviously didn't sound as if he believed in Jim's leadership skills too much, because there had been hurt briefly flashing in his eyes. Uhura voiced similar sentiment ("I hope you know what you are doing, Captain), only to be rewarded by laconic reply "so do I."

He then broadcasted ship-wide announcement. Basically 'everyone prepare to fight. _Enterprise_ is going after Nero,' speech. Fuck.


	4. Confrontation

**A/N:** Just one more chapter to go after this one, so sorry for spamming your inboxes today.

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**Confrontation**

Somehow, the brains on the ship managed to cook some spectacular plan how to get close enough to _Narada_ (that was name of the Romulan ship as he learnt). The intricacies of the plan are 'get on the ship', 'find Pike' and last but not least 'find a way how to destroy that motherfucking future ship'. It had been decided that only Spock and Jim will transport on _Narada_. Sulu was handed the conn. "If you'll see tactical advantage, take it," said Jim to him, Sulu nodding gravely. The ship was sneaking to system Solu, hiding behind planets, so Romulan's sensors wouldn't see them.

Time to leave for _Narada_ came. Leonard was a bit surprised that when he run to the transport room, there had been Uhura and Spock kissing. Ugh. Brain bleach was definitely on program later. Jim just stood there, looking slightly uncomfortable, until he saw Leonard coming up to him.

"Hey," Leonard said softly, when he was in arm reach. "Thought you could use someone to tell you come back in one piece."

"Thanks, Bones," he responded with a grateful smile, although he made sure no one else can really see that. "I know you would miss all the excitement I bring into your life, so keep the dinner warm for me, darling!" he added in his usual style, grinning about the way it made Leonard grumble something about idiots. Before he could think about it too much, he stepped close and hugged Jim tightly. The kid tensed for a moment, before he hugged him back.

"So return in one piece, kid," Leonard whispered. Breaking the embrace, he gave Jim his patented scowl and growled: "because if you return in more pieces, I will sew them all together only so I can kill you afterwards, ya hear?"

Jim just nodded and then he and Spock were enveloped in the white light, sending their atoms through space right to _Narada_. Uhura run to bridge, he back to sickbay. Too soon there was some spaceship acrobatics, which left them in the middle of nowhere; shooting at _Narada_, all of them praying it would be enough. He was monitoring the communication, so when Jim shouted "Scotty, beam us up – NOW!" he was already jumping to his feet, yelling at medical emergency team to come with him to transport.

There was no time to really take a look at Jim or Spock, his hands full with preparing Pike for emergency surgery. He only heard 'Centurian slug' and knew they had to act quickly, before even more damage could be done. The thrashing of the whole ship few moments later was something he could definitely live without, as it tended to make things more difficult, even if he wasn't performing spinal surgery. But even if he finished Pike, there was no rest for him – as soon as he finished, there were several other patients who became critical in the last few hours. He only had time to rescrub.

When he finally made his way to the Bridge to yell at all the idiots who had been working non-stop as long as himself and got Jim to Sickbay, he looked just as bad as Leonard himself felt; tired, bruised and sore. He only croaked: "Hello to you, too, Bones," before wincing in obvious pain.

Leonard almost manhandled him towards the biobed. "Sit," he ordered, while scanning Jim. Massive bruising on neck - which definitely made it very hard to breathe, dammit, Jim, why took it you so long to come, bruised and cracked ribs, strained wrists, pulled muscles, countless abrasions…

Jim had been strangely silent during the assessment and during all the hypos Leonard gave him. Usually, he bitched non-stop about his lacking bedside manner, about the hypos being stabbed into his neck too viciously, and really, Bones, is this necessary, see, I'm completely fine. This time – nothing. He just sat there, his head down, shoulders slumped and overall looking like child who did bad and was to be scolded.

He quietly laid the protoplaser on the small medical trolley, before turning back to Jim. "Jimbo," he called quietly, "what's wrong?"

There had been no answer for a moment. When Jim finally raised his hand to return Leonard's gaze, he was dragging each move. "Sorry, Bonesy," he said, "too tired to be as much of a pain in the ass as you know me."

"Care to tell me what happened back on _Narada_?" he asked, while preparing next batch of hypos. Jim nodded and started telling him what they had done on the Romulan ship. "So, we transported to _Narada_, right in the sight range of a bunch of Romulans…"

"Holy smoke, Jim!" he exclaimed later, when Jim told him about being choked by Nero and Ayel, "why didn't you come to see me sooner? Any strangulation injuries are damn dangerous; it's a miracle you are still breathing!"

Something in Jim face made him stop his you-are-such-an-idiot tirade. "Jim?"

"Leonard," Jim said, in seriousness unusual for him, "do you believe in me?"

Part of Leonard had been deadly afraid of this question, expecting something like this to come ever since the scene at the bridge. First was letting him get nerve-pinched by Spock and marooned on Delta Vega. And then the whole "Great – now we do not have any Captain, or the First Officer. And hell, you gotta be kidding me, Jim!" scene…

Jim's eyes were once again full of stars, dimmed by exhaustion and hurt. And also full of fragility, which Jim usually didn't show much. He saw him looking like that only once – right after his first try at Kobayashi Maru. They both got terribly drunk back then. Now, they couldn't. Jim was the Acting Captain and he was the Chief Medical Officer, at least until they got to Earth. He will have to repair Jim without the help of his most trusted bourbon, and renew the trust they had between themselves before.

"Jim, he spoke quietly, as I speaking to a distressed child, laying a comforting hand on Jim's shoulder. "You know me. I complain too much, I drink too much. I'm generally pain in the ass too much. I used to be a looser, too. But Jim," he forced Jim to look him in the eyes again, "you were the one who showed me that there are much more win scenarios, if I happen to be willing to risk for a bit. So yeah, I believe in you, even if the recent events do not show the trust."

"You let them maroon me on Delta Vega, Bones," said Jim, accusation clearly sounding in his voice, making Leonard wince.

"I know," he nodded after a second of hesitation. "I know I should stand by my friend, especially since he never had been proven wrong, if he had a hunch about anything. But Jim," he lowered his voice, "I had medbay full of wounded people. As much as I didn't agree with that pointy-eared hobgoblin, I couldn't let myself get kicked off the ship with you. It was enough that he didn't throw me in the brig after the yelling I gave him on the bridge afterwards."

Jim let his eyes wander around the sickbay. Most of the broken parts of _Enterprise_ had already been removed or at least repaired with the little resources they had. The patients who didn't necessarily needed to be monitored all the time were released to their cabins, only the critical ones staying in medbay, several of the nurses checking their vitals while making lists of what resources they had left. The most critical patient had been Captain Pike.

"How is he?" he asked, nodding his head in direction of the man. Leonard sighed. "That depends on your point of view, kid. He will live – but there is no estimate about how well he recovers from that Centurian slug I removed from his brain-stem."

The blonde just nodded before yawning. "So tired, Bones," he mumbled, "but I can't sleep. Do you think you could give me something to make me sleep?

"Kid," he said apologetically, "I would give you something – but right now, your body could react badly to it, after all the stimulants and other things I pumped in you in the last few days."

"'s okay," Jim mumbled, "'s not like I have a place to sleep, after all."

That had really startled Leonard. "What do you mean that you have no place to sleep?"

Jim gave him a sardonic grin. "You forgetting, Bones, that first of all, I'm not even supposed to be here. Stowaway, remember?"

"Well, then you are going to sleep here," blurted Leonard. Yes, Jim sleeping in sickbay would definitely make his life easier, since he wouldn't have to worry about the kid being completely alone in somewhere else, while he is stuck to sickbay for Lord knows how long.

Jim gave him another blank stare before he nodded. To Leonard's surprise, Jim let him help to prepare for sleep, allowing the older man to lay him on the bio bed.

Leonard turned around to look for a blanket when Jim's sleepy voice stopped him: "Bones… do you think Frank will be glad…?"

He didn't have to say anything more. Will Frank be glad to hear from his nephew? Will he be glad to know that the idiot of a nephew is alive?

"Ya bet he will, kid, ya bet he will," he said quietly, small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. For all the devil-may-care attitude he really was just a kid sometimes, thought Leonard fondly, as he unfolded the spare blanket, laying in over Jim. Resting his hand on Jim's shoulder shortly, he allowed himself a small smile. "Sleep well, Jimbo. I got you."

And this time, he won't leave him.


	5. Buckling Up

**A/N:** And here comes the end. Huzzah!

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**Buckling Up  
**

He woke on the biobed, wrapped in a blanket better than he remembered wrapping himself. Jim was nowhere to be seen when he sat and looked around.

"He left short time ago, Doctor," chuckled quiet voice to his right. 'Pike,' though Leonard, turning around. The Captain was very much awake, a small smile on his lips. 'How comes he is awake?'

"Now, Doctor, grant this man at least a short moment of consciousness," said Pike with roll of his eyes. Damit, was he speaking aloud or what? "Just wanted to tell you – you did well yesterday."

"Didn't feel like that back then," grumbled Leonard. Bloody hells. Part of him had been quite surprised that Jim was willing to even come near to him, with the trust issues the kid sometimes seemed to have.

Pike smiled knowingly. "It never feels that way, Leonard. But in the end, he will remember that it had been you who had been here for him. Not many people can say that about themselves."

Leonard just hoped that Pike was right.

The next few weeks were filled with fevered activity. Most of the systems of the ship had been collapsing at the worst of times, or at least very close to collapse. Jim and the rest of the bridge crew, as well as the rest of them are working their asses off just to ensure the ship's hull won't collapse at them.

Some good things happened, too, though. In all the years they spent together he never learnt that Jim can actually speak Vulcan – on a very good level, actually, and wouldn't even believe it, if he didn't see Jim speaking to one the elders, the elder looking as surprised as Vulcan can get by that when he responded to whatever Jim just said.

Or the singing. He heard the "come sing along the pirate song!" all the way from engineering, almost chocking on the coffee he was drinking. It was the worst cacophony of voices he ever heard – but the enthusiasm put into it was so overwhelming he caught himself humming along, stopping only when Chapel started to giggle at him. That made his scowl at her fiercely. No one, absolutely no one (well, except Joanna and Jim with his manly laughter, as the kid preferred to call it) will giggle at him, damit. And the fact that the Chekov's hero worship, aimed at Jim, was very much put on solid ground, when the two of them started to sing something in Russian (he had distinct feeling of the song being about Moscow), was also a sight to behold; both of them glowing happily, absolutely uncaring what the others are thinking about them, especially when they started to sing Katyusha. Heck, even he knew the song about girl longing for her beloved – so when he was sure no one could hear him; he was so humming the refrain.

After long silence they finally managed to get the communications repaired, sending in first bunch or reports – lists of casualties (which were long, too long), damage reports (also too long) and list of rescued people – either from Vulcan or from the destroyed ships. Those were the only lists which were too short. He also got his few moments to record a message for Joanna. Jim promised him that later he will be able to speak to real real-time, not just through a recorded message. When his few minutes started, Joanna on the other side of the screen, he couldn't stop tears from falling. He was alive and returning home, sending the word of it in time when most have already stopped hoping.

Return home had been strange affair. Families of crew of all the ships which managed to survive the battle of Vulcan had gathered at Academy grounds, waiting for their loved ones, while Vulcan refugees were still mostly in shock after losing their home planet. Could anyone be happy, when so many had been lost? Leonard wondered about that – but when his little girl run towards him, laughing happily, he threw everything behind him, hoisting her in the air, spinning with her in his arms.

That was when he saw Jim and his uncle falling into each other's arms. And he smiled.

It's another few months before they graduated (yes, imagine that, they actually wanted them to graduate!), _Enterprise_ is repaired and Jim is named the flagship's Captain. All of them are on the bridge, waiting for permission to leave the orbit, when the doors to the lift open and Spock enters. Before they know it, Jim is smiling and finally appointing his First Officer. Good Lord, now he will never hear enough of the damn green-blooded hobgoblin.

Jim lays his hand on his shoulder. "Buckle up, Bonesy! Adventure awaits!"

Hearing that, he just groaned. Not only he will spend next five years in the blackness of disease filled space, he will also spend all his time by trying to figure how to keep the reckless idiot alive.

And to tell the truth, he couldn't imagine better place where he should be.

* * *

**A/N:** I wanted to finish uploading this, but truth to be said, this and "Jim" certainly will be getting a rewrite some time in the future, when I finish all my ongoing projects (and there are more and more of them - I really hate my Muse sometimes, let me tell you). Anyway, once again sorry for spamming your inboxes today, I'll try not to do that in the near future. Much.


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